Army deploys base camp as test site for Natick Labs

Saturday

Jun 25, 2011 at 12:01 AMJun 25, 2011 at 2:03 AM

With an eye toward water, energy and fuel conservation, the Army has built a new base camp at Fort Devens that will serve as a testing ground for new technologies from private contractors and the engineers at Natick Labs.

Ian B. Murphy/Daily News staff

With an eye toward water, energy and fuel conservation, the Army has built a new base camp at Fort Devens that will serve as a testing ground for new technologies from private contractors and the engineers at Natick Labs.

Assistant Secretary of Defense Sharon Burke and Assistant Secretary of the Army Katherine Hammack flew in from Washington, D.C., to participate in the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the new Systems Integration Laboratory yesterday morning.

Hammack, whose expertise is installations and environment, said 70 to 80 percent of cargo in convoys to forward base camps is water and fuel.

"That's a lot of manpower that's not focused on the mission," Hammack said. "We know that our budgets are going to be going down and we're going to have to do more with less."

The camp has two 150-soldier base camps set up side by side. One is the control group camp that features technologies that are now standard in forward deployed bases. The other side is a testing ground where new generators, wastewater cleaners, kitchens, tents and other items will be used.

The Army will collect data and measure the increased efficiency compared to what's currently in use.

The Army started clearing trees at Fort Devens in December to build the camp, and equipment began arriving in April.

Col. Rick Harger, the product manager for Force Sustainment Systems based in Natick, said the Systems Integration Laboratory will be running for five years, and Fort Devens will rotate in reserve soldiers for training to live at the camp during the tests.

"It will be a continuous new testing base," he said. "We're looking for energy-efficient tools to reduce the demands on base camps in Afghanistan or wherever else they are."

Harger said soldiers can set up a 150-person base camp in four hours, if needed.

Much of the new technology tested at the base is developed at Natick Soldier Systems Center, better known as Natick Labs, although some of the new gadgets are from private industry, Harger said.

Burke advises the defense secretary on energy issues, and is the first person to hold her position, which was created by President Obama last year. She said generators for base camps in Afghanistan currently can use more fuel than the vehicles housed there, and energy security is crucial. Supply convoys have to pick their way through dangerous terrain, and the fewer convoys sent will result in fewer dangerous missions and deaths.

"We've got to change, and we've got to do things better," Burke said. "We owe it to our soldiers who are there now to do things better."

(Ian B. Murphy can be reached at 508-626-3964 or imurphy@wickedlocal.com.)

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